THE SAD CLOWN SONG

Musically-

this song is another 'straight shot'.

Just vocal and piano.

I've sung it for years.

I know every inch of it so....

recording it's not really that involved or interesting.

Altho- all you music geeks out there....

I've given you a little gift in the last bar of the piano tag.

A big nerd noogie to whomever can identify the last two bars of music in the piano accompaniment.

As far as the body of the song....

That's the real fun part.

I've often felt that my favorite songs were also my personal 'anthems'.

Songs that, at my funeral would be played and everyone would go,

"Aaaaahhhhhhhhhhh, how fitting. Yes. Yes, indeed. Very 'her'."

Most of the songs on this album fit into that category...

but none more than this one.

This song by Charlie Chaplin has been a favorite of mine since childhood-

even before I understood the lyrics, really-

which are incredibly true, true, true, true, true.

It is a song in general about emotions-

pretending to be happy when you're sad-

and sad when you're happy...

but since the great comic genius Charlie Chaplin wrote it-

attention must be paid to where the man was actually coming from and what he possibly wanted us to understand about himself.

Btw- are you loving the tone that I have right now-

like Charlie Chaplin and I are best buds and I know every thought that went through his head when he wrote this cause we're 'THISCLOSE'?

God, I know I am.

Comedians are, I think the most underrated actors in all of the profession. 

People are always amazed when they turn in decent dramatic performances and then inexplicably hold it against them at the same time. 

They rarely win awards for their work which is massively more difficult than their dramatic compatriates-

and having done both genres myself equally-

I'm willing to stand by that statement til the cows come home.

It's a horrible misconception that comedy is easier than drama.

Horrible.

Because nothing could be further from the truth.

Comedic actors are merely dramatic actors with a tougher task to achieve and far less appreciation for it.

And not for nothing- but the same goes for musical theatre performers. Performing in a play is a fucking cake walk compared to being in a musical. Case kuh-losed.

And most comics, once you get to know them- are at their core incredibly insightful and observant people. They are, some not all - also, an endless well of despair and sorrow because they are incredibly insightful and observant. And...most likely have suffered incredible pain. Because otherwise, why develop a sense of humor at all? 

side bar-

I had the incredibly great fortune to work one on one with one of the most talented comediennes on the planet- the iconic and absolutely brilliant Ms Carol Burnett... and even I was amazed at the absolutely ridiculous shit that woman has gone through in her life personally and professionally. She is the perfect example of someone developing a sense of humor to first and foremost- survive. And she is at the same time- the rarest example of someone who has managed to rise above all of that pain and still somehow manage to be one of the most loving, generous, sweet-natured people I've ever met.

She is also the originator of the very famous and couldn't-be-more-true quote of  "comedy is tragedy plus time".

and if anyone would know-

it would be her.

And this track is dedicated to her with all the love in my heart.

Now.

I'm not saying you have had to have suffered incredibly pain to be funny-

but I know for a fact, that the funniest people I have ever met indeed have suffered intensely at some point in their lives. Sometimes they suffered the most at their own hands- 

and in that respect they can be a tremendous pain in the ASS...

but....

what can ya do.

And the people I've met with the poorest senses of humor, while lovely-

absolutely lovely to be around-

have led rather...

sheltered lives in comparison.

I'm sure there are exceptions to that rule but....

I'll be damned if I've seen one up close and personal yet.

So the fact that this song-

was written by arguably one of the greatest clowns that ever lived-

it is one of the purest windows into the soul of people who are not only funny-

but have to be  funny for their livelihood even when their worlds are crumbling around them.

There's nothing worse than say, learning of a death in a the family-

and then having to go to jump around like a starking git in a light, frothy British farce.

And, there's nothing better either.

Whereas in a 'regular' job, if you're sitting at your desk-

you might excuse yourself to go to the bathroom if you feel a well of pain come on-

but what do you do when you're singing and dancing center stage for a bunch of people who have no idea what's going on in your life and honestly, did not pay good money to even remotely care.

This, HAVING TO smile when you're sad, and HAVING TO cry when you're happy is the dilemma of the day to day actor that most people don't ever think about- and honestly, why should they. We have a job to do, and that's the gig.

But the real genius of this song....

is that the MUSIC is happy-

and the LYRICS are happy-

and yet...

it's a terribly terribly sad song.

Usually, when a song is 'sad'- 

the music gives it away when the lyrics play against it-

or vice versa-

but this song somehow manages to be BOTH in a major key AND have 'happy' lyrics and still is obviously a very sad song.

And for me-

it encapsulates the life of a comic.

a comedian.

a comedienne.

The clown will always make you laugh-

but you'll never really know whether the clown is actually, truly happy.

And that's the way we like it...

...because we are SICK mother fuckers!!!!!!!

YYEEEAAHHHH!!!!

OOHHHHhhhhhh mom- 

i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry i'm sorry....

it was just getting way too 'pat' and hallmarky.

i love you.

i do.

i love you mom.

even tho i have a filthy mouth which does not reflect on you AT ALL, i promise-

and it's not even remotely how i was raised.

You hear me everybody?

I was NOT raised to think that using profanity was OK.

I picked that shit up later in college.

And from the gays.

Those dirty 

nasty

delicious gays.

ok.

more tomorrow my loves-

off to bed.

xoxo

dl

PR UPDATE

ok dolls-

working on the next 'song' post for ya-

but there's a lot going on PR wise that I feel is necessary to import.

At the moment, the CD is being replicated at Play-It Direct and they called me today to let me know that they will be messengered to me on Thursday November 19th!!! Woot!

In the meantime--

there is a lot of PR groundwork to be laid.

First- we have solidified the details of the CD RELEASE PARTY at The Beechman Theatre on Sunday, November 29th at 9:30pm. It's 'pay what you can' at the door- and anyone who makes a donation of $15 or more gets a CD. But if you're low on cash and just wanna come and have fun? Fine by me.

There is a minimum charge of $15 for food and drink and that goes to the 'house' for hosting us. So you can use a credit card to pay that if you want....

but otherwise....

just come and have fun and celebrate with me.

I'll be singing some songs from the album-

telling some stories-

getting drunk.

same old same old.

The fabulous Phil Bond is working on the Press Release for The Beechman Theatre and I am currently waiting on a press release for the album in general- written by the incredibly generous Peter Filichia.

FOOTLIGHT RECORDS also got in touch with me, had heard about the CD and would like to sell it through their company as well. So...that will be another way to purchase the CD once it officially drops on December 1st, 2009.

Speaking of places to buy the CD-

Play-It Direct has a package that you can buy for $69 where they basically hook you up with a barcode, CDBABY, Amazon.com, Itunes, Gracenote and The Bizmo. I would be lying to you if I said I understood 100% what all of the above means...

but if it's only $69 to have someone who actually knows what the fuck they're doing fill all that shit out? I'm TOTALLY for it.

Speaking of filling shit out.

I have been gamely trying to navigate through CDBABY on my own-

trying to answers questions and fill out the forms and create my 'profile' and all that jazz...

and some of it's harder for me than others.

For example....

it asked me what 'genre' my CD was.

I have no fucking clue.

You'd think i would...but i really don't.

Folk?

Country?

Jazz?

Blues?

And then as if that's not confusing enough for my addled brain-

it has SUB-categories.....

so it's even worse....

"Celtic" folk?

"Blue grass" country?

oh Lord.

I finally decided on Easy Listening since that was the only place i found a sub category with the word 'broadway' in it.

But who knows.

another issue for Play-Ivy Direct to deal with....

again.

$69 very well spent.

They also ask you what three famous singers you sound like.

Again.

Stumped.

I put "Judy Garland, Barbara Cook and Alison Krauss"

I originally had Nancy LaMott in there instead of Barbara Cook but...

i thought maybe....

Not many people knew about Nancy LaMott...

altho they should.

What do you all think?

If you can think of other people that you think I sound more like-

lemme know.

Now---

There's stuff to put together that I've never even heard of such as "Banners" and "Sell Sheets".

Once again, thanks to my brilliant friend Robbie Rozelle-

who is beyond awesome-

I'm learning about all this stuff.

A BANNER is that thing you see at the top of websites?

Like if you go to All That Chat, you see that ad at the top of the page?

That's a banner and it costs $75 a month.

Which seems like a decent deal to me, so we're gonna look into that.

A SELL SHEET is basically 1-2 piece of paper that you include with your promotional CD that you send to critics, press, radio stations, etc that:

has a graphic, usually of the cover of the CD

The title

The name of the artist

The CD release date

The Label

The Catalogue #

The Barcode #

The price of the CD

The category Broadway cast album, easy listening, etc

Then there's the 'product description'- which is a paragraph about the CD itself with maybe a few positive quotes thrown in there.

Track listing

The "Key Selling Points"- this is where you let people know if the artist, or the composer or the show has any sort of ready-made fan base...whether they won any awards...whether there's anything particularly unique about this CD, whether there's *ahem* a blog already online about the making *ahem* of said CD....

Press- this is where you put reviews of preferably the CD. But if you don't have any of those, then you can put reviews of the artist, or good words from famous people, etc.

.........and that's a SELL SHEET kids.

SO.

once i get all THAT shit done....

I need to compile a list of press people that I already know-

or that have already generously contacted me about helping me promote the CD-

and I need to start putting press packets together for them.

I also have been starting to make address labels for all the pre-orders, donations, etc....

and my AWESOME mom brought 300 padded envelopes all the way from Rochester in the car when she came up this weekend as her donation to the cause.

So.

Even tho the CD is 'done'-

there is still TONS TONS TONS to do PR wise.

And...

depending on how exhausted I get by all of it-

it pretty much never ends.

Obviously there's the big push right now-

with the CD release party...

and the CD release date...

and all that good crap.

but.....

I will need to constantly hustle on this thing if I really want it to keep having a life.

Of course-

one always HOPES that people dig it so much that it takes on its own life....

and it will be more about people calling ME about the CD than the other way 'round but....

more often than not....

because there's SO MUCH out there....

you gotta hustle to keep your head above the fray.

Anyhoodles-

not a particularly FUNNY post today--

but i think an educational one for all of you who are considering making your own CD as well.

heads up-

just cause you drop that bastard off to get reproduced....

know that that was just phase one....

phase two is upon me...

and I'm doing my best to juggle as many plates as I can.

Again....

I have developed an appreciation for yet another job that you pay people thousands to do.

PR.

God bless 'em.

Every one.

Ok hons....

more writing to do...

more soon....

xoxo

dl